The Fall of the Spider Queen and the Battle for the Keep
Arc 11. The longest stretch in the record, and the one that ends with a stronghold that holds.
The fall of the Spider Queen
The Goblin King sent four goblins — a squad leader and a warlock among them. The plan: Freya would conjure an illusory cart of sacrifices, some of the party would go invisible, and the goblins would approach as though coming to talk.
The webs thickened as they got closer. Spiders came out of the trees. Araniax crept out, stared at them, and asked about the sacrifices. They showed her the illusion. Kvothe cast Faerie Fire on the queen and the fight began.
Mid-battle an orcish man in robes appeared — Ubo — saying he had been following them in the forest and wanted to help fight evil.
Freya finished Araniax with an acid splash. The Spider Queen was dead, and Ubo stayed.
Her hoard: the Dawnforge Gauntlets (iron, dwarven runes), the Starlit Compass (silver, sapphire needle, elven constellations), 1,200 gold, 2,500 silver, 4,000 copper, six black opals, two moonstones, and a silver necklace with an emerald pendant.
Rindle left the party around this point to pursue other matters.
The dream at the keep
Resting at the keep, one of the party dreamed of Broken Spire Keep warped — walls pulsing, purple ichor dripping upward, a taste of salt and decay. A voice called itself a "savant of the depths", offered knowledge beyond their pact, and threatened to unravel their thoughts if they resisted.
They saw a great eye, poked it, and the dream shattered.
Nobody connected it to anything.
The extended Underdark journey
The party's own map of the upper Underdark. Click for full size.
The Derro horde. A day and a half toward the portal cavern, the party fought a horde of Derro. Two notes came off the bodies:
"The Wetlanders grow bold. Three of their priests visited the Glass Shores yesterday. Darlakanand demands we increase patrols near the Singing Stones. The Alliance grows thin."
"The Tide Calls. Deliver the Pale Ones by the seventh moon or face Blibdoolpoolp's wrath."
Bogani thought "the Pale Ones" could mean his people — or the party. He confirmed the kuo-toa and Derro alliance is held together by the mind flayers. Next meeting set for the 37th of Autumn. The party assigned themselves roles for the road: cooking, scouting, hunting and gathering, and chronicling.
The Sanctuary. Near a crystal-strewn drop-off they killed some oozes. Kvothe heard a low tone and made out the faint outline of a door; he hummed to match the tone, and it opened onto the Sanctuary of Whispered Stars — a domed crystal chamber with an altar and an ornate longbow on it.
The inscriptions spoke of the Sundering Choice, the Crimson Schism, and a people who chose "silence over sacrifice, shadow over slaughter" — the Third Path, the Starless Kindred.
Kvothe took the bow — Windsong, a very rare +3 weapon — and gave it to Jocelin. The party rested and woke refreshed, with advantage on Wisdom checks for the day.
The Keeper. On second watch a woman appeared to Jocelin and called herself the Keeper. Jocelin had something that was not hers. Return it, or "the way" would come. Jocelin gave the bow back. The Keeper told them they could use the Sanctuary for rest, drew a circle on the ground, walked through it, and was gone.
The Oathbow. Further on, a white bow leaned against a wall. Kvothe grabbed it and took lightning damage; tried again and went down. Jocelin stabilised him. Ubo tried and was shocked too. It was an Oathbow.
Then a loud gong, a bad bridge, and ground that went pitch black as tentacles came up grasping. In the fight Jocelin saw the bow again, took it up, and heard "death to our enemies." The enemy spellcaster escaped.
The Bloody Six. The party found a ledger, prisoner transfer pages, and a warning about themselves. Resting in a Tiny Hut, a small kobold watched them on fourth watch and scurried off. Travelling on, a huge worm burst out of the floor — they ran. Then purple fungi that attacked, then a twelve-foot ogre with religious tattoos calling himself Verix.
They fought until a voice said "It's time for us to be gone. It's not time for more of us to die," and the enemy teleported out. That was the Bloody Six, working for the mind flayers.
Sylvara. Kvothe looted the big one — armour, a red-tinted glaive, javelins. Further on, Agatha found a female elf bound and gagged, wounded but alive: silver-blonde hair, green eyes. Sylvara, from an adventuring group out of Konigsberg investigating disappearances. Ambushed; some killed, two sold to the kuo-toa. The Bloody Six had been taking her to "a maw."
Jocelin lent her an elven spear and she joined them.
The recall. On Agatha's watch, Freya's voice: "There's problems coming at the keep, problems with the Iron Circle." Agatha said it would be eight to ten days. Freya: "Danger not immediate but soon. Goblins and guards are securing the keep, will hold things until you get back."
Sylvara mentioned that while captive she had heard two Derro factions do not get along.
On the third day home the womp womp hit again and several went catatonic for hours. They made it back in nine days.
The battle for Broken Spire Keep
Preparations. An enormous amount of work had been done — walls mostly finished, only the top of the broken spire outstanding. A dozen human guards sent by the Lord Warden, and a lot of goblins. Booger brought word from Thistle: the Iron Circle was mobilising against "upstarts in the forest."
Roughly 20 humans and 50 goblins. Agatha sent word to Bogani and to Oleanne, who was a few days out and coming.
Stage one — scouting. Ubo flew the forest as an eagle while Freya scouted with Sylvara. Iron Circle scout units on the southeast and northeast edges of the Spiderfell, moving toward Goblintown. The Goblin King sent 20 troops, a boss and a warlock to secure it.
About 50 Iron Circle toward Goblintown, 150–200 toward the keep. The enemy found Freya and sent a force to kill her; the party got Freya and Sylvara out. Stage won.
Stage two — the assault. The Iron Circle consolidated and came at the gates. The goblin force returned from Goblintown. The party and their allies destroyed them. The enemy tried to withdraw.
Stage three — pursuit. The party chased. They killed an enemy mage, but Valthor Kade and a stealthy operative, Dren Shadowveil, escaped.
Aftermath. The Iron Circle's Spiderfell forces were broken. Their commanders were not. Broken Spire Keep stood.
Two summonses
Freya was gone in the morning. Her note said the keep was established enough to stand on its own, she had her own agenda, and she wished them well — with a pointed suggestion to leave the goblins alone, of whom she had grown fond.
Then Oleanne arrived, revealed herself as a Silver Raven, and brought bad news: Nenlast had gone silent, besieged by Gulthias's forces and cut off. The Ravens wanted eyes on it.
Within the hour, a massive elk walked out of the treeline and stood at the gate, staring at Ubo. When he approached it spoke with the Queen of the Forest's voice, summoning him to the Throne of Antlers. Gulthias had sent an emissary to the Winterbole Tribes, offering vengeance against southlanders in exchange for living warriors who can fight during daylight. The Queen wanted Ubo and his companions to speak against it at the tribal council.
The choice
Three priorities, one party:
- The Underdark and the mind flayers — Bogani expects them on the 37th
- Nenlast under siege — the Silver Ravens want reconnaissance
- The Winterbole Tribes — the Queen wants them at the council
They chose the Throne of Antlers, reasoning that if Gulthias gained an army of living warriors, the surface threat became unmanageable.
Ruin and Vaelin left the party around here.